Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Some 26.000 plug-ins were sold last month, which represents a 10% increase over the same month last year, when the Outlander PHEV was flooding the streets of Holland, currently the YTD sales have surpassed the 275k barrier, so it's safe to say that this year we will be closing the year with the 300k barrier broken. The podium places are attributed a long time ago, with the Fourth Place now firmly in Chevy hands, with the soon-to-be-deceased 1st Gen Volt distancing itself from the wrinkled #5 Prius Plug-In, which made its worst sales performance ever (893 units).Next we have the BMW i3 in #6, followed ever more closely by the ever-improving #7 BYD Qin (1.753 units, zillionth eleventh consecutive record).The Ford Fusion Energi is on the verge of being surpassed by the #9 Kandi, while the Renault Zoe (1.290 units) continues to impress in this Second Coming, posting its third straight month in the four-digits area, a first for the french hatch. A deserved mention should be noted to the BAIC E-Series, having sold 1.040 units last month, enabling it to win a Top 10 position (#9) in the November ranking, this looks to be another model to follow closely next year.Finally, a curious fact, the Mitsubishi Minicab Miev Truck (Long name for a short car) reached 750 registrations since it started in 2012, which is halfway to be the Best Selling Electric Pick-Up Truck, a title still in the hands of Ford, thanks to its 1.500 Ford Ranger EV, made from 1998 to 2002, so at least until 2016, the Best Seller pick-up truck title belongs to a vehicle sold in a time when Britney Spears was dressing schoolgirl uniforms, Social Networks consisted on emails and Elon Musk still drove gas-powered cars...

Pl

WORLD

Nov.

YTD

%

'13Pl

1

Nissan Leaf

4.874

54.969

20

1

2

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

2.215

29.628

11

5

3

Tesla Model S

2.193

25.731

9

4

4
5
6

Chevrolet Volt (1)
Toyota Prius Plug-In
BMW i3

1.438
893
1.531

19.77418.10614.295

7
7
5

2
3
20

7

BYD Qin

1.753

12.928

5

40

8

Ford Fusion Energi

762

10.914

4

9

9

Kandi EV

1.500

10.132

4

N/A

10

Renault Zoe

1.290

8.762

3

6

TOTAL

26.202

277.173

Manufacturers - Duels Time!

If the Podium positions are a dead certainty, the race for #4, between Ford and Chevrolet, and #7, between BMW and BYD, will maintain the interest on this ranking until the last month of the year, as both races are separated by less than 100 units.My guess is that Ford should keep the #4 place, but BMW will have to push hard sales if it wants to maintain the Seventh Spot.

Pl

WORLD

Nov.

YTD

%

'13Pl

1

Nissan

5.005

55.621

20

1

2

Mitsubishi

2.480

33.414

12

3

3

Tesla

2.193

25.731

9

5

4

Ford

1.605

20.894

8

7

5
6
7

Chevrolet
ToyotaBMW

1.499
976
1.838

20.82819.40815.484

8
7
6

2
4
13

8

BYD

1.985

15.410

6

11

9

Renault

1.785

14.836

5

6

10

Kandi

1.500

10.132

4

N/A

(1) - Includes Holden Volt, Opel and Vauxhall Ampera;

Questions for December

1 - Will Tesla or Kandi fulfill their promises and present record-busting sales?

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Quote hear in the media regarding the i8: "AT LAST A COOL PLUG-IN CAR!"

Zoe Reaches the Podium Edition

With more 9.000 than units sold last month, the European EV market was some 10% below the same month last year, but remember that at the time sales were inflated by the Dutch year end rush to dealerships, if we only take in account this year, this is the third best result of the year, after September (10.212 units) and March (9.690).

Looking at the monthly models ranking, the only real surprise is the return to form by Tesla, placing the Model S in #4, with 593 units, but the biggest surprise is the #7 of the VW Golf GTE, with 365 sales, mostly due to the Dutch market, that seems to have found a new darling on this model.

Pl

Model

Sales

1

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

1.703

2

Nissan Leaf

1.644

3

Renault Zoe

1.288

4

Tesla Model S

593

5

BMW i3

575

On the YTD ranking, the Renault Zoe climbed yet another place in the ranking and reached the last place of the podium, while behind it the Model S and the i3 will fight in the last month of the year for #4, right now only 122 units separate them.

On the second half of the ranking, there are three newcomers making themselves noted, thanks to the previously referred 365 units sold last month, the Golf GTE jumped to #22 and it's promising to be VW's Best-Seller next year, last month it already outsold it's BEV brother, the e-Golf (336 units) and it was only one units behind the smaller e-Up!

The other two models deserving a special mention are the Top 30 appearances of the Merc B-Class ED (#29) and the Cayenne Plug-In (#28), this last one seems to be cannibalizing sales of its Panamera brother, as the sedan suddenly started to be a slow seller (25 units last month), while the SUV sold 68 units and it's still in landing mode...

Final mention to the UK sales update that allowed the Ampera and e-NV200 to rise a couple of positions on the ranking, which says a lot on the current importance of the British EV markets.

Monday, December 29, 2014

154 EV's were sold last month in Belgium, a slightly above average month, pushing the EV Share up 0.01% to 0,42%.

Looking at the monthly models ranking, the BMW i3 recovered the Best Seller Trophy, with 36 units, but the real news came below the podium, with the BMW i8 reaching #4 in November and improving its personal best by selling 14 units (Will we see it on the podium next month?), tied with the Bimmer we had the Audi A3 e-Tron, performing satisfying numbers, unlike its VW counterpart, the e-Golf, with only 2 sales...Is the Audi cannibalizing sales of its less premium cousin?

Speaking of Cannibals, it looks that the Cayenne Plug-In (12 units) is already eating sales of its Panamera brother, as it took it only two months to sell more than its more planted to the ground relative (Only 7 Panamera Plug-In were sold last month).

On the YTD chart, the #8 Renault Zoe is closing in on its smaller brother Twizy, with only four units separating them, while in #9 we now have a trio, with two VW's (e-Up! and e-Golf) and the Smart Fortwo ED. The Opel Ampera continues to slide on the chart, losing two spots and ending in #16...Last year it was #8.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, Tesla (21% Share) has the red carpet ready to roll off and grab the Best Selling Brand Title, but it still has to keep an eye on BMW (19%), as both its models are selling above expectations. In Third place we have Porsche with 13% share, its best performance anywhere in the World...

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

BYD Tang: Plug-in SUV in China. Mission: To sell in the thousands per month...

The 2nd Gen Chevrolet Volt will be probably the most important launch of the year, volume wise

A rather Teutonic approach to plug-in cars, the Passat GTE intends to appeal to middle managers across Europe

Tesla Model X: It was already in the 2014 Edition of this article...Will this time be for real?

Volvo XC90 T8: A Viking warship that is also eco-friendly...

Besides these, there are promises of a number of PHEV versions of regular cars, almost entirely of German origin, like the Merc C-Class, BMW X5 and 3-Series, Audi Q7 and A6, Volvo S60 and even Fiat-Chrysler is preparing a PHEV Minivan!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

New Addition EditionA good month for the Swiss EV Market, with 191 sales, with the EV Share rising to 0,76%, thanks to the addition of the Outlander PHEV, which for me was a bit like the "Elephant in the Room", because i imagined that it would sell well in the alpine Switzerland, and effectively it does sell like hot cakes, so much so that it steals the leadership from the Tesla Model S! Tesla will probably recapture the Top Spot with the AWD Model S (And Future Model X), but until then, Mitsubishi is the Top Dog.Next Moby Dick to be captured? VW Golf GTE, it should be a sales hit in the power-hungry Switzerland.

The Renault Zoe impressed last month, selling 41 units, its Personal Best this year and dangerously closing in on the #3 BMW i3 in the YTD chart, with only 8 units separating both, anything can happen in the last month on the year.
In the rest of the ranking, the Nissan Leaf made another good month, selling 16 units, the Opel Ampera had a stock clearance month, selling (probably) their last 11 units available, while the BMW i8 continues to impress, setting another personal record by selling 12 units, securing it another #6 position in the Monthly Ranking and rising one position to #9 in the YTD ranking.

Monday, December 15, 2014

The German EV market is always heavy on surprises, and this month proves that again: After a surprise win last August, right in its first sales month, the Audi A3 e-Tron followed it with two unremarkable performances, selling only 28 units, but in November sales blasted through the roof again and reached 157 units, securing it another monthly Best Seller trophy.The #2 Renault Zoe also had a good result (146 units), while in Third arrived the Smart Fortwo ED, with 133 units.

In #5 we get another surprising visitor, with the Merc B-Class ED sales finally starting to gain speed, selling 63 units.

Pl

Model

Sales

1

Audi A3 e-Tron

157

2

Renault Zoe

146

3

Smart Fortwo ED

133

4

BMW i3

126

5

Mercedes B-Class ED

63

Looking at the YTD ranking, the first positions had one relevant change with the of the Renault Zoe to #4, but it's below the #9 that changes appear...

The Audi A3 e-Tron jumps two positions to #10 (And #2 in the PHEV market), while its VW counterpart, the Golf GTE, jumps three positions to #13, the Merc B-Class ED rises to #17 and finally the Porsche Cayenne PHEV is also up to #19. All these new stars promise to shake up the market in 2015, especially the A3 e-Tron, as it is already fighting with the current Top Dogs.